The Galaxy Watch 6 proves that what’s outdated can change into new once more. Samsung introduced again the fan-favorite bezel on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, whereas the common Galaxy Watch 6 is an incremental replace to final 12 months’s mannequin. These Android smartwatches aren’t thrilling, however they will do virtually all the things you want.
This story is a part of Samsung Event, CNET’s assortment of stories, ideas and recommendation round Samsung’s hottest merchandise.
I’ve been sporting each variations for every week to trace all the things from exercises to sleep. Inside, they’re virtually the identical watch with the identical inside specs, sensors and sizing choices. I examined the small model of each: the 40mm Watch 6 and the 43mm Classic. (My wrist measures 152mm.) You can see how they match within the video on this web page. 8.4 Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic Like
Screen is twice as brilliant as final 12 months
One-click watch band design is backwards-compatible
Switch telephones with out resetting the watch
Rotating bezel is again on the Classic
Don’t like
Need to cost the watch each day
Irregular coronary heart rhythm/ECG just for Galaxy telephones
Classic is $100 greater than the Galaxy Watch 6
Sleep monitoring accuracy is uneven
The principal variations between the Galaxy Watch 6 variations?Material: The Galaxy Watch 6 has an aluminum body whereas the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is chrome steelRotating bezel: Only on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The Galaxy Watch 6 has a haptic contact bezel across the screenPrice: Starts at $300 for the 40mm Galaxy Watch 6 or $330 for the 44mm. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is $400 for the 43mm and $430 for the 47mm. Watch this: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Full Review
06:10 All the sensors on each are the identical as those discovered on the Galaxy Watch 5: coronary heart price, physique composition and pores and skin temperature. Both the Watch 6 and 6 Classic have LTE choices to remain linked if you’re away out of your telephone. They price $50 greater than the bottom value and it’s possible you’ll have to pay a further price to your wi-fi supplier to get service in your watch.So, what’s totally different from final 12 months? It’s so simple as software program, screens and a barely longer-lasting battery.Better, brighter shows enable you to see extra Galaxy Watch 4 Classic (left) vs. 6 Classic (proper) within the smaller sizes of each. John Kim/CNETIt looks like a small improve on paper, however the bigger 1.3-inch and 1.5-inch shows make a major distinction to the general expertise. When I evaluate the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic instantly with the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic (the final Samsung watch to have the bezel) the distinction in usable show is evening and day.The screens are additionally twice as brilliant because the Galaxy Watch 5 and Pro, reaching a most 2,000 nits. I discovered them a lot simpler to see in daylight. The always-on show is brighter too.Galaxy Watch 6 Classic bezel makes the watch enjoyable againI love that Samsung listened to suggestions and introduced again the rotating bezel. Not solely does it make navigation extra enjoyable, it is a sensible technique to management the watch in case you put on gloves, or have sweaty or moist fingers.The bezel can also be slimmer than the model we final noticed on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. But it would not do something new and it ought to by no means have left. The common Galaxy Watch 6 has a contact bezel across the fringe of the display screen. Move your finger round to get the identical impact because the bodily bezel. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic’s bezel. James Martin/CNETI marvel what Samsung will do concerning the subsequent Pro watch. I speculated the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro might have had a slimmer rotating bezel across the raised fringe of the watch. Now Samsung makes a slimmer model, I hope we’ll see it on the Galaxy Watch 6 Pro.One design perk I wasn’t anticipating is the brand new one-click watch band design. No extra twiddling with spring pin toggles! The new bands are additionally backwards and forwards-compatible and I respect that they sit nearer to the watch body. The hybrid leather-based band on the Classic is especially snug for all-day put on.Galaxy Watch 6 battery life: Only barely higher than the Watch 5Samsung is extra conservative with its battery life estimates this 12 months, claiming the Galaxy Watch 6 can last as long as 30 hours with the always-on show, or 40 hours with it turned off. That’s for each sizes of each watches, regardless that the bigger case sizes have a higher-capacity battery at 425 mAh in comparison with 300 mAh on the smaller model.I wasn’t fairly capable of attain these numbers. With the always-on, getting a handful of telephone notifications, one 30-minute exercise utilizing GPS and sleep monitoring, I hit 27 hours on the 43mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic earlier than it went flat.With barely heavier use, like streaming music over Bluetooth headphones and an extended outside exercise utilizing GPS, that runtime is nearer to 24 hours. I think LTE use will drain the battery even sooner and can replace this assessment as soon as I’ve been capable of check. It takes over an hour to cost the watch from flat to full utilizing the offered USB-C charger, or you should use reverse wi-fi charging on a Galaxy telephone for a top-up. If you need the longest-lasting battery, that is nonetheless the $450 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro that lasts two-and-a-half to 3 days with related use. Galaxy Watch 6 reverse wi-fi charging. John Kim/CNETWearOS 4 and One UI 5 Watch: A very good combo, however not fullThese are the primary watches to run Wear OS 4. Some of the important thing updates promise higher battery life and cloud backups. Apps like Gmail and Google Calendar can even come to the watch, however on the time of writing they are not out there but. Other Google apps just like the Assistant and YouTube Music are there and WhatsApp now has a local Wear OS app.They additionally run Samsung’s One UI 5 Watch on high of Wear OS 4 that brings Galaxy Watch-exclusive options together with:Sleep insights and sleep coachingPersonalized coronary heart price zonesEmergency SOS can ship your location when it detects a fallFall detection energetic routinely for customers over 55 Pairing your watch to a brand new telephone is really easy now you need not reset and wipe it anymore. John Kim/CNETKnow that the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 will get the One UI 5 replace later within the 12 months. Other interface tweaks embody an even bigger keyboard, so typing is just a little simpler than the Galaxy Watch 5. Voice to textual content dictation works in addition to it did earlier than. But my favourite characteristic up to now is that you simply need not reset your watch if you swap to a brand new telephone. If you could have a Flip 5 or Fold 5, you possibly can management the digicam in Flex mode out of your wrist, however I discovered it was a bit laggy. Don’t really feel disregarded you probably have an older Galaxy telephone: The digicam controller nonetheless works. I examined it with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and bought digicam controls like zooming with the bezel, with out the lag.Universal gestures is a lesser-known accessibility characteristic that ought to get extra consideration as a result of it really works very well. Just just like the Assistive Touch on the Apple Watch, you possibly can management the Galaxy Watch 6 with gestures if you cannot contact the display screen or press buttons. Universal Gestures on Galaxy Watch 6 John Kim/CNETHealth, health and sleep is just about the identicalThe Galaxy Watch 6 has a couple of new health instruments like a brand new observe run exercise kind and the choice to create customized exercises. Samsung quietly added again automated biking detection after it disappeared from the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5. The Galaxy Watch 6 nonetheless auto-detects actions like walks, runs, rowing machine and elliptical after about 10 minutes.New to Samsung watches are personalised coronary heart price zones. They can assist you practice extra successfully by serving to you keep inside a spread based mostly in your cardio capabilities. To calculate customized coronary heart price zones, do a minimal 10-minute outside run at 4 kilometers per hour or sooner. Then go into Settings > HR Zone Guide > Target HR zone. This characteristic additionally exists on the Apple Watch and Fitbit.
Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic Gallery: Details Up Close
See all photographs Sleep monitoring options deliver the watch in control with what different watches in the marketplace provide, particularly the Pixel Watch and Fitbit. You can now see your sleep rating on the watch and the corresponding sleep animals are cute. But they have been out there on the Galaxy Watch 4 since early 2022. It will take extra time to see if the Galaxy Watch 6 sleep teaching ideas are useful in the long run and in the event that they’re any totally different from earlier watches. I’ll replace this assessment after a number of weeks with the ultimate verdict. Like different wearables, the Galaxy Watch 6 can examine your blood oxygen readings when you sleep, but it surely’s the one smartwatch I’ve worn for sleep monitoring that offers me very low blood oxygen readings in a single day, generally as little as 87%. Low blood oxygen readings can point out medical situations like sleep apnea. Activating sleep mode can also be alleged to activate an invisible infrared sensor as an alternative of utilizing the inexperienced LED for coronary heart price, although I seen once I awakened in the course of the evening, the inexperienced gentle was seen. I’ve reached out to Samsung for clarification on this characteristic.The Galaxy Watch 6 has an ECG and now helps irregular coronary heart rhythm notifications, just like the Apple Watch and Fitbit, however solely you probably have a Galaxy telephone. You can sideload the Samsung Health Monitor app on different Android telephones by putting in an APK, however technically it isn’t supported.I examined the center price monitor in opposition to a chest strap for accuracy and located that my resting coronary heart price matched up. During a cardio exercise, the sensor was inside a couple of bpm of the strap. Like final 12 months’s watch, the GPS locked on to a sign inside seconds of beginning an outside exercise and route accuracy is sweet.Finally, the pores and skin temperature sensor tracks throughout in a single day sleep and may also be used to foretell upcoming menstrual cycles.Should you improve to the Galaxy Watch 6?That relies upon. If you could have a Galaxy Watch 4 or 5 it would not make a lot sense until you get a improbable trade-in deal, otherwise you actually need that larger display screen. You get all the principle software program updates with One UI 5 Watch later within the 12 months anyway.If you could have an earlier Galaxy or Gear watch that runs Tizen, the improve is extra tempting as you are having access to Wear OS and the choice to maintain the beloved bezel.But the Galaxy Watch 6 has much more competitors than final 12 months, because of the likes of the Pixel Watch and Mobvoi’s TicWatch 5 Pro. The Galaxy Watch 6 is among the most refined Android smartwatches, but it surely may very well be much more thrilling, particularly with regards to battery life.Galaxy Watch 6 vs. 6 Classic Samsung Galaxy Watch 6Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 ClassicForm RoundRoundWatch measurement 40mm, 44mm43mm, 47mmMaterials/ Finishes AluminumStainless MetalDisplay measurement, decision 40mm: 1.3 inch, 432×432 pixels, Super AMOLED; 44mm: 1.5 inch, 480×480 pixels, Super AMOLED43mm: 1.3 inch, 432×432 pixels, Super AMOLED; 47mm: 1.5 inch, 480×480 pixels, Super AMOLEDDimensions 40mm: 38.8×40.4×9.0 mm; 44mm: 42.8×44.4×9.0 mm43mm: 42.5×42.5×10.9 mm; 47mm: 46.5×46.5×10.9 mmWeight 40mm: 28.7g; 44mm: 33.3g43mm: 52g; 47mm: 59gColors 40mm: graphite, gold ;44mm: graphite, silver43mm: black, silver; 47mm: black, silverAlways On YesYesInterchangeable bands YesYesGPS YesYesComputerized exercise detection YesYesCompass YesYesAltimeter YesYesWater resistance 5ATM, IP685ATM, IP68Calls YesYesMicrophone YesYesSpeaker YesYesVoice assistant Yes (Google Assistant, Bixby)Yes (Google Assistant, Bixby)Mobile Payments Yes (Samsung Wallet)Yes (Samsung Wallet)Sleep monitoring YesYesInterval monitoring YesYesSensors Optical coronary heart price + electrical coronary heart sign + bioelectrical impedance evaluation, temperature sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, gentle sensorOptical coronary heart price + electrical coronary heart sign + bioelectrical impedance evaluation, temperature sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, gentle sensorEmergency options Emergency SOS, fall detectionEmergency SOS, fall detectionCompatibility Android 10 and aboveAndroid 10 and aboveSoftware WearOS 4WearOS 4Processor Exynos W930 dual-core 1.4GHzExynos W930 dual-core 1.4GHzConnectivity LTE6, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 2.4+5GHz, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Beidou/GalileoLTE6, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 2.4+5GHz, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Beidou/GalileoMemory and storage 2GB reminiscence + 16GB storage2GB reminiscence + 16GB storageCharging Fast charging (WPC-based wi-fi charging)Fast charging (WPC-based wi-fi charging)Battery life Up to 40 hours (Always On Display off); as much as 30 hours (Always On Display on)Up to 40 hours (Always On Display off); as much as 30 hours (Always On Display on)Battery capability 40mm: 300 mAh; 44mm: 425 mAh43mm: 300 mAh; 47mm: 425 mAhPrice (USD) 40mm: $300 (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth); 44mm: $330 (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)43mm: $400 (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth); 47mm: $430 (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)